SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Health is moving to ban new forms of cigarettes including smokeless cigarettes and dissolvable tobacco or nicotine.

The ban will take place from Dec 15 for such products.

From August 1 2016, the Government will also ban tobacco products such as nasal snuff, oral snuff, gutkha, khaini and zarda.

Most of these products are not yet available in Singapore, or not widely used.

The ban is a pre-emptive measure intended to protect the public against the known and potential harms of such products, said the Ministry in a statement on Monday evening.

It will exclude any tobacco-containing products, tobacco derivatives, or medicinal products registered under the Medicines Act.

"The ban is aimed at ensuring that the targeted emerging tobacco products do not gain a foothold or become entrenched in the Singapore market," said the Ministry in its statement.

It is also intended to prevent such products from becoming "gateway" or "starter" products for non-smokers.